I have no other comment to make about the underlying issue here, and I am specifically not making a stand. I'm just saying, it's not a minor issue.
And that's the key here, isn't it? She wasn't coerced into these pictures. She may have been peer-pressured, but the article doesn't cover whether this is the norm in this school or not. I suspect not. She did it, she distributed the picture. What did she think it was going to happen?
Her father's quote is laughable: "This country has laws in place to protect children. Those laws need to be enforced, and parents need to pursue those laws to the fullest extent to protect their children." What the hell does he think happened here?
Much of the failing, if there is one, seems to lie with her parent here.
He's an incompetent parent who doesn't want to admit his daughter has turned into an eSlut sending multiple pornographic images and videos to multiple people at the same time. I'm sorry, but sending nude pics to your boyfriend is acceptable, sending it to a non-boyfriend is trashy, but 4 guys at the same time is just slutty.
I just want to say thank you. That was the funniest thing I've read in a long time.
“This country has laws in place to protect children. Those laws need to be enforced, and parents need to pursue those laws to the fullest extent to protect their children.”
The idea that destroying the rest of a young man's life because his daughter sent him a naked picture is just twisted. Being labeled as a sex offender is no small matter. It's much worse morally than going and beating the shit out of the kid (assuming no long-term damage). If convicted the kid's life is ruined.
Furthermore, if the law is going to protect his daughter (assuming some harm to her), then the proper application would be to prosecute his own daughter and send her to jail. Of course that's ridiculous too, but not as ridiculous as prosecuting the boy.
Now I understand the guy is upset and I don't totally blame him for acting irrationally, but the legal system needs to step in and set some precedents here.
Maybe, maybe not; we might be moving toward a world in which this is closer to the norm than the exception.
Even if it isn't, I would observe that your daughter is an autonomous person with a will of her own: that others should be punished for her own voluntary acts seems ignorant at best and extraordinarily cruel at worst.
"I am specifically not making a stand."
Maybe not, but your first sentence implies otherwise.
If nothing else she is likely yo be inundated with lewd emails/messages/IM.
It wont be pleasant - but, then, in this case perhaps it is a life lesson she needs.....
She doesn't need nude pictures on a 'child porn network' for something like that to happen. Plain-clothes pictures of herself on a Facebook/MySpace page the is public could be enough. So I hardly see how this makes it an offense worth destroying the rest of someone's life over.
What if there had been nude pics of Obama on the internet, would they have hurt his chances for becoming president?
I think it depends on the job - not all women become secretaries.
Probably less then 20 years ago, and even less in 10 years. But yes, this is one possible consequence. Actions do have consequences, and it's parent's job to make sure they're not too grave.
But still, having some difficulty being elected into office isn't really a problem for 99% of all people. I was afraid someone would point out something serious I had overlooked, but if this is the worst of it, it means having your naked picture on the net isn't so big anymore.
End of the story was: she didn't get elected, but then she was unlikely to be elected anyway. And eventually she produced evidence that the photos were fake (by releasing a photo taken around the same date which showed her with a different haircut), and the papers had to retract the story and officially apologise, which they of course did after the election.
What I am saying here is that you don't need digital cameras and the internet to get nude photos circulated, and that I think it will become the norm for just about everyone to have embarassing photos lurking under the closet, and will become a non-issue for employment, politics and more. As long as it is plain-vanilla pics in your underwear, I doubt it would cause any long term effects.
Hell, I seem to remember seeing Arnold naked in the Terminator movies and he still got himself elected Governor of California.
Interestingly, those other things are not illegal.